Former Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan on Sunday admitted that the entire Republican budget was based on repealing Obamacare, President Barack Obama's health care reform law.
During an interview on Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace asked Ryan how the Republican budget could cut $770 billion out of Medicare in the next 10 years without impacting benefits.
"These are increases that have not come yet," the Wisconsin congressman explained. "So by repealing Obamacare and the Medicaid expansions, which haven't occurred yet, we are basically preventing the explosion of a program that is already failing. So we're saying, don't grow this program through Obamacare because it doesn't work."
"Are you saying, as part of you budget, you would repeal -- you assume the repeal of Obamacare?" Wallace pressed.
"Yes," Ryan insisted.
"Well, that's not going to happen," Wallace pointed out.
"Well, we believe it should, that's the point," Ryan replied. "This is what budgeting is all about, Chris. It's about making tough choices to fix our country's problems. We believe that Obamacare is a program that will not work."
After Obama's re-election in November, House Speaker John Boehner suggested that Republicans were trying to pivot away from an obsession with repealing the Affordable Care Act.
"I think the election changes that," Boehner told ABC's Diane Sawyer. "It's pretty clear that the president was re-elected, Obamacare is the law of the land."
But in January, Republicans voted for the 33rd time in 18 months to repeal the health care reform law.
